# Dry Undereyes - Foundation Problem



## Zindagi (Oct 29, 2012)

My undereye area is the bane of my existence. I do my makeup to perfection elsewhere. I do great makeup, actually. But I cannot seem to master my undereye area. I have tried every foundation, concealer, and primer I can get my hands on. I've tried various moisturizers. I've even tried mixing moisturizer with my foundation (which is actually a very nice Korean BB cream). I've tried various setting powders. I've tried without setting powders. I've tried blotting it with a piece of tissue, I heard that one somewhere. I have tried using brushes, sponges, and fingertips. Every day it makes me want to murder kittens.

My problem?

It seems like I have super-dry skin under my eyes. I don't even know for sure if that's what it is, but that's the only thing I can think of as to why my undereyes would be so horrible. I moisturize well and take very good care of the skin in that area. If anything, I am naturally oily. Without makeup on, there's only dark circles under my eyes. However, once I put makeup on it instantly develops that crepe-papery look. It doesn't matter what product or method I use, that ALWAYS happens. Then, of course, it creases. I am only 23 and the rest of my face looks fantastic, but my undereyes end up looking like I am 70! I don't even have crow's feet to speak of. The only, and I repeat ONLY problem with my eyes is the undereye, and really the inner corner.

At this point I am not really concerned with being able to cover the dark circles. They're not that bad and I would be happy with just being able to put a little bit of foundation underneath my eye for color consistency with the rest of my face.

Any suggestions? This is my current routine:

1) Moisturize with Nivea Soft. This stuff has worked wonders on dry skin in other parts of my body.

2) Prime with NYX Photo Ready Primer.

3) Lightly pat on Mistine BB Wonder Cream. Sometimes I set with powder and sometimes I don't. It doesn't seem to make a difference in the results.

My undereye ends up looking like THIS:





Edit: Link removed, image added.


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## MissAprosexia (Oct 29, 2012)

Wow, your skin issues sound exactly like mine.  I have oily skin with a dry under eye area that can make my concealer look creased and weird.

This is what has been working for me:

Every night lay down some serious moisturizer.  I've tried a bunch of things and plain olive oil works best (bonus, it's cheap).

Moisturize with something lighter before using primer (I like Elta)

Use a hydrating primer.  I love the Nyx photo ready for everything _but _my under eye.  It's the best I've used for oil control but that makes it all wrong for dry skin.  I use ELF mineral infused primer for this.

After applying makeup use a setting spray.  There's an inexpensive one made by ELF that helps a little, but I'm using Urban Decay's All-Nighter right now and it's awesome.

Hope that helps!


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## GirlyEnthusiast (Oct 29, 2012)

I feel your pain. The inner corners of my eye are always dry and make my makeup cake up. The only thing I've found that works for me is massaging Argan oil all over my eye area before I go to bed. When I wake up my dry skin is supple and smooth. If I skip a day, it goes right back to being dry again.


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## zadidoll (Oct 29, 2012)

Try this.

At night before bed apply a warm moist compress on your eyes for a few minutes to open up the pores. After apply a generous amount of eye cream or an oil such as pure Jojoba Oil or Argan or Macadamia or even Olive or Grape Seed Oil to your under eye area and allow to sit on your skin for another five to ten minutes before gently rubbing it into you skin care not to tug the skin. By using the warm moist compress and allowing the pores to open it give the product the chance to be absorbed more deeply into the skin. It can't hurt to try to for a couple of days and see if it's a quick and easy fix.


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## Zindagi (Oct 29, 2012)

I don't think it helps that I live in Las Vegas.

*sigh*

I used to have this problem when I was living in Georgia and Thailand, but not nearly as bad as it is now. It's strange, because I can't for the life of me remember being like this when I was 20. Seems like it has happened overnight. I definitely want to try some of these tips, though. The general consensus seems to be heavy nighttime moisturization. I just so happen to have a big jar of coconut oil.

The thing that irritates me most is that I only JUST got my acne under control before I realized that now my eyes were bugging me. I was one of those people who goes through high school with perfect skin when everybody else is developing a pizza face, and then acne hit me in college. Now my FACE is fine, but my EYES are bothering me.

Anyway, thanks. I will try some of these and let you guys know. I don't want to run around with no foundation on and look all pale and washed out, but at the same time I don't want to wear it and have my undereye area make me look like I'm 80.


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## Zindagi (Oct 29, 2012)

I applied a warm compress and then used a small foundation brush to sweep coconut oil on my eyes and in the Kim Kardashian highlight triangles to make sure my fingers wouldn't pull the skin. Let's hope this works.


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## JNiccolai (Oct 30, 2012)

i'd love to hear your results, i have the same problem under my eyes and when i put makeup on it just seems to ENHANCE the dry, wrinkly skin....

Thanks!


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## Zindagi (Oct 30, 2012)

Maybe miracles do happen. I followed the suggestions twice last night, as it was my day off. The first time I just used a hot rag as a compress and then I used a small foundation brush to swipe coconut oil in the Kim Kardashian zone. A few hours later I used two hot tea bags and dipped a washcloth in the hot tea. I put the tea bags over my eyes and then draped the cloth over my whole face for ten minutes. I followed up with the same swipe of coconut oil. I think I am having a slight reaction to the coconut oil, so tonight I am switching to olive, but it seems SUPER hydrated, and if your skin tolerates coconut oil I recommend this! I still seem a tiny bit dry, but Rome wasn't built in a day and I expect even better results tomorrow. It hasn't really creased so far, and I always had problems with that, so something is definitely working right.

Here was my foundation routine:

1) Moisturize with Nivea Soft; this is a lot lighter and is a miracle cream.

2) Prime with Sheene primer. Sheene is a brand I brought back with me from Thailand. It's silicone-based and a lot more hydrating than the NYX that I mentioned earlier. The consistency is between Hard Candy and NYX primers.

3) Gently pat on Mistine BB Wonder Cream (a Korean brand I brought back with me from Thailand, but you can find it on Amazon and it's actually full coverage, but lightweight).

4) Follow up with a very very LIGHT swipe of Hard Candy mattifying powder.

I'll post another picture tomorrow and let you know if today's makeup ever creased or ickied up. It usually looked nasty by the time I was done with my eye makeup before, but it's been half an hour and still looks alright. I need to get my brows done, but I am happy with the results. Here's an untouched photo.


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## zadidoll (Oct 30, 2012)

Awesome! Let us know how it worked out for you in the long run.


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## Zindagi (Oct 31, 2012)

Here's how it looked after a full day's work in the Las Vegas desert (indoors, thankfully). It ended up a little dry and crinkled, but not nearly as bad as it would have been in the BEGINNING of the day without the oil treatment. I wish I had taken a before photo, but the lady I included in my first post is a pretty accurate descriptor. No severe creases with sunken and collected makeup, either. You do see some, but those are just my eye creases on their own and the makeup didn't settle or split around them. I'll post periodic updates over the next few days now that I know a lot of women have this problem.

I switched to the olive oil tonight because the coconut was making me itchy, and it seems great so far. I repeated the hot tea compress routine after removing my makeup with an organic shampoo. I find that the gentle organic shampoos remove my waterproof mascara pretty well without stripping my skin's oils. Avoid sulfates, parabens, and artificial chemicals. I love the olive oil stuff in the ethnic hair care section. It will remove ALL of your makeup without being harsh.


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## beautymakeup099 (Oct 31, 2012)

I would say you to put a mixture of milk cream and almond paste under your eye and put cucumber for 20 minutes just prior to any party. Do not forget to massage under eye cream every night before going to bed. You switch to a good facial that suits your skin's current condition and do not change it at least for six months. Lets see what happens. Keep posting..


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## JNiccolai (Oct 31, 2012)

where do you buy milk cream and almond paste?


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## Zindagi (Oct 31, 2012)

Same routine this morning, same results. No improvement over yesterday's results, but still better than without.


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## MissLindaJean (Oct 31, 2012)

Very cool! My makeup under my eyes does this on occasion, so I'll try this out, too. I thought I was moisturizing enough with an eye cream, but have argan and rose hip facial oil I can use and experiment with.


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## zadidoll (Oct 31, 2012)

It's probably going to take time to see a major improvement.


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## VintageKoha (Nov 3, 2012)

I'm gonna have to try some of this- my eyes always look really awful and I can't ever seem to figure out why.


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## camel11 (Nov 27, 2012)

I have this problem alll the time. What I've learned is that my eyes are allergic to many ingredients. I've seen an uptick since I've started using the two mascaras I received in the last couple Birchbox!

I'm not allergic to the Origins Ginzing eye cream, so I've been putting that on in the AM/PM. It isn't the greatest product, but it helps rather than hurts. Other very heavy, oily products compound the problem, making my eyes dry, itchy, AND puffy. I've found BootsNo7 concealer helpful. Although it doesn't hide dry skin, it doesn't otherwise look crackly.


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## makeupbyomar (Nov 27, 2012)

No matter what skin care product you apply under your eyes, or face for that matter, (OTC or homemade), it takes 7 to 14 days to see any results. Your skin's pH will be adjusting it's self within that time, which means dry to oily to soft etc. If you keep changing products within that time, your skin will be reacting by becoming irritated. Yes we all live in a society of instant gratification, but unfortunately, science still hasn't caught up to our personal wants. So it's good ol' fashioned time and patience in these types of matters. Also... I've been reading over this thread several times, more than most, before I responded. And I see two things going on. *1)* Immediate concern -&gt; skin care issue, specifically under the eyes. *2)* Her results -&gt; various eye make-ups. What are we all seeing here??? I am reading and seeing two different things... What I don't see is Zindagi's description of her undereye dryness.


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## Mss T (Dec 11, 2012)

I don't have many under eye issues but I do prepare for would might happen (based on the women in my family most likely won't ever happen). I rub jojoba, castor oil, and vit e capsule under my eyes every night. I leave it on and wash it off when I get up in the morning. Before I put on makeup, I rub a small amount of A&amp;D oitment under my eyes. I might help.


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